The End
by Veronica The Mischievous
Summary: My take on one of the EX endings...Read and enjoy...


Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Shadow of Destiny/Memories!

VTM: After borrowing this game from a friend and playing the crap out of it for a week, I've really grown to liking the game. (I must swipe my own copy once given the chance…) Anyway, this is my first attempt at Shadow of Memories fic. It's show time!

--

He wasn't fully sure why, but he now remembered **everything**. He remembered the very moment when this **curse** truly began. The awakening of that wretched **demon**, his foolish spur of the moment wish for eternal youth, the sudden desperateness for a new beginning. He had wandered aimlessly, with no past or future, a mere toy for the creature that he himself had foolishly brought into this world. If he hadn't suggested the pentagram, he wouldn't have the philosopher's stone right now, and probably wouldn't have regained his memory. _'Just how long have I __**really**__ been doing this?'_ Eike asked himself. _'I've been just going in circles, loop after loop, changing and tangling history over and over again. I've become nothing more than that monster's plaything…'_ Standing in the city square, he looked at a statue that was put up as a result from one of those loops. _'So much trouble...Even if it was to make sure he was born, I'm sure that Homunculus had been getting some kind of sick entertainment from all this.'_ Taking out the digipad, Eike looked at it determinedly. _'Even you said it yourself, Homunculus, I have to get to the root of the problem…'_ Pressing the buttons, Eike went back, to the time where this whole mess had begun.

-_If given the opportunity to make amends, take it…before that chance slips through your fingers…_-

"Get away from her!" Eike said protectively as he held out his lighter and lit it.

"Ahhh!!" shrieked on of the ladies. "Fire from his hand!!" The others panicked and huddled together in fear.

Eike glared and continued in a stern voice. "Stop bothering this girl and her family! And you had better not speak a word of this, or I'll curse all of you!"

"Y-yes! We swear! Please do not harm us!" cried the village guard.

Eike put the lighter away. "Good, now get the hell out of here!"

The villagers scurried off, light cockroaches scattering when a light was turned on.

Eike looked at Margaret, and gave a sigh. "Are you okay? Sorry if I startled you…" he said as he scratched the back of his head.

"N-no, it's okay…Thank you for saving me…" Margaret said thankfully.

"Excuse me, but by any chance, are you the daughter of the alchemist, Dr. Wagner?" Eike asked.

"Why yes, why do you ask?" Margaret said with a blink.

"I have something for him, if you wouldn't mind, may I see him?" Eike asked.

"Well, I suppose so…He's awfully busy these days though…" Margaret said with a sigh. "I'll show you to the house…"

--

They entered the house quietly, so not to disturb anyone. "Oh, would you mind if I quickly check up on mother?"

"No, not at all…" Eike said with a smile.

Margaret began to head up the stairs; she stopped and looked back at Eike. "I think she'd like to meet you, would you like to meet her?"

"Sure…I wouldn't mind…"Eike then followed her up the stairs.

"How are you feeling mother?" Margaret asked as she walked into the room.

"I'm okay…There's not a great deal of pain today…" Helena said a pleasantly as she could. Suddenly, she noticed an oddly familiar presence. "Oh? Is there someone with you? A guest?"

"Wow! What strange clothes!" Hugo said with surprise.

"I met him in the square…" Margaret said happily. "He helped me!"

"…Hello, I'm Eike."

"My, your friend's voice is remarkably like your father's…" Helena said with a little surprise.

"Hmm? Do you really think so?"

'_You have __**no**__ idea…'_ Eike smiled to himself. He felt at ease seeing his family again, this time, with his memories, he could truly appreciate the moment.

"By the way, is father still in the laboratory?" Maragrete asked.

"Yeah…he won't come up here, even with mother like this…" Hugo looked away.

"Now Hugo…Don't talk like that." Helena said in a weary tone. "I love your father even more, because he's doing what he believes in. Are you going to follow in his footsteps, Hugo?"

"I…I don't know yet…"

The Eike bit his lip at those words. _'Helena…you talk strong…but even I can see that you also wish I was there by your side.'_ Eike let his eyes trail away from her, they then landed on Hugo. The fact that it would be **him** that was after his life hurt even more now. Even if he had been looking for a cure at the time, he still neglected his family, and that neglect sowed the seeds of hate and murder. _'I was such an idiot…my pursuit for knowledge…the so called truth…blinded me from the obvious.'_

"I guess I should go check on him…" Margaret said suddenly. She was about to leave the room. "I wonder if he's had his dinner yet?"

"Oh! Uh, let me go with you!" Eike said suddenly, seeing his chance.

"Oh? Okay then!" Margaret said with a smile. She then led him down stairs and to the laboratory.

Upon entering they were greeted by the site of a man hunch over a cauldron, tirelessly working, ignoring the rest of the world.

Eike gave a slight frown, it was almost pathetic in away, this had to stop. Part of him wanted to walk right over and give that man such a punch to the face that even he would feel it. But then, he also knew what would happen if he did. "Sorry to bother you Dr. Wagner, but I have something that might interest you…" he then took out the red stone and looked at Margaret. "Um, could you please give this to him?"

"Of course…" Margaret took the stone and walked over to Dr. Wagner and set it on the stone counter.

"Dr. Wager, that's the philosopher's stone…" Eike said suddenly.

Dr. Wagner snapped out of his trance and looked at Eike with shock. "What did you say!?"

"It's the philosopher's stone…" Eike repeated. "With that you can make the cure all and save your wife…It's the real thing, I assure you."

"I see, thank you!" Dr. Wagner said thankfully.

"Please brew it right away; you never know what you have…until you lose it…" Eike said knowingly.

Dr. Wagner looked thoughtful for a moment; these words seemed to stir something in him. "Yes, I think I understand what you mean…Thank you again, I don't know how I could ever repay you…"

"Don't worry about it, you already have…" Eike said with a smile. He could feel the changes in his past already. "I should be going now…Take care of your self." And with that he left the laboratory.

--

As Eike walked away from the house new memories played in his mind. Anxiously watching his beloved wife drinking the elixir. The anticipation building up in the room.

"_Helena, how do you feel?"_ Eike heard his past self ask anxiously.

"_The pain…"_ her beautiful voice spoke with mild surprise. _"It's gone…"_

Eike smiled to himself, there were no words that could describe the relief and gratefulness he was feeling right then. But suddenly he began to feel something else right then. There was a strange tightness in his chest, and it was beginning to get harder to breathe.

"_This is the best day ever!"_ Hugo said with a smile.

He could see the smiles of his family clear as day in his mind.

"_Well I can't stay in bed now, can I?" _Helena said with a small, soft laugh.

'_Helena…'_ Eike stumbled, and leaned against a nearby wall. "Heh…this…This is the end…finally. I won…I cheated fate…" he said weakly, it was becoming harder to force out the words. To a regular person, Eike's situation didn't seem much like a 'victory', being that in mere moments, his current self would cease to exist. But this went far beyond mere self survival now. New memories began to form in his mind; he could see the fulfilling life that his family was going to have. A sudden shot of pain ran through his body, not much time left, he could feel himself getting dizzy, his body now felt oddly heavy. Pushing himself off the wall, he forced himself to keep moving forward. The happiness and warmth of his family still remained strong with him. He pictured their faces, as best he could. If this was the end, he wanted them to be the last thing he saw. Eike gasped slightly, his body shuddered, and his legs finally gave way. As he fell forward, one last thought had occurred to him; he finally got what he had wished for, what he **really** wished for. A chance to make things right. Eike Kusch never got a chance to hit the ground.

-_And so...Time marches on…_-

"Oh wow…" said a bright eyed young man in a long, green over coat as he stared up at the statue in the town square. The young man's name was Eike Albrecht; he had come to Lebensbaum through an opportunity through college. There was something about the quaint little town that intrigued him; there was something about being here that just felt 'right' somehow. "I really **do** look just like that statue." He had been told by some of the townspeople that he had an uncanny resemblance to a mysterious man that had very deep connections to the town's history. Many rumors and old stories surrounded that man, some would say he was some sort of devil, others would say that he was some sort of guardian angel that watch over the people of the city. For some reason these stories made Eike chuckle to himself, he had a feeling that neither of those were the case.

Unknown to the young man, he was being watched. Gazing out the window of his little dark realm, Homunculus watched this 'new' Eike. He wasn't Dr. Wagner, well, perhaps a reincarnation, if you believed in such things (not like he'd know, he never really 'died' before). Eike was truly now his own person, Homunculus no longer had a connection to him. If he could, he'd make that boy's life a living Hell for what he had done. Homunculus was slowly fading from existence. But who would've thought, that even though he was fading, Dr. Wager's influence over the town's history still remained. He must have had that man tangle the threads of fate so much, that they couldn't possibly be undone now. In a strange way, it was unfair, almost like Dr. Wager had managed to get in one last laugh through that little irony. He could see the 'new' Eike heading down the street where Dr. Wager's ordeal had began. "Oh…?"

As Eike made his way down the street, there was a sudden feeling of dread, almost like he was expecting something bad to happen. But what? Suddenly, a shiver ran up his spine, Eike turned and looked back. Was there someone following him?

"Oh? Perhaps you haven't beat fate just yet, Eike…" Homunculus said with a smirk. "Are you doomed to repeat the endless cycle of death as your predecessor?"

Eike felt a chill; it felt like someone was watching him. It was creepy; it was like he could feel an icy stare on him. He tried to shake the feeling off and continued to walk down the street. Eike was near the end of the street, there was strange feeling of relief. Just then, he felt something strike him in the back. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Eike's heart beat hard against his rib cage, his stomach churned, and words managed to wriggle free from his lips. "Again…!? Why…?"

A satisfied smile grew upon Homunculus' lips. "Hmm…Too bad, Eike."

Eike stumbled forward, but he managed to quickly steady himself. Looking back he saw a soccer ball bouncing on the ground. "…What the…?" Looking further down, he spotted a young boy that looked oddly familiar running after the ball.

The boy, seeing that he had hit the man stopped in his tracks and looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry mister…"

Eike couldn't help but smile, he then picked up the ball, walked over and handed it back to the boy. "Don't worry about it…" he said as he ruffled the boy's hair.

The boy gave a relieved smile and then ran off.

Homunculus watched in silence. Dr. Wagner truly did it; he had changed fate. And upon finally accepting this fact, Homunculus finally faded out of existence. Immortality did have its perks, but sometimes it had nothing against the human will.

Eike continued on down the street, for some reason, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He felt free. From what, he'd never know, but he had the future to look forward to, and that was all that mattered.

_Some say, that our fate is predestined, this is only partially true…We all meet the same end, but it is up to us how we make the journey there…The human will, is an amazing thing indeed…_

--

VTM: That's that…I hope you enjoyed, it's probably not that great, but hey, I had fun writing it. Sorry if it seemed a little rushed though. And don't get on my case on how it can or can't work out; this was just for **fun** people! R&R, and please, no flames…


End file.
